As Laila stood up, the hissing sound of the demon beast grew louder. As if sensing that the threatening presence—Eustar’s presence—had disappeared, it seemed ready to pounce at any moment.

No boots today either. Laila thought. She was wearing satin shoes that matched her dress.

Though the heels weren’t high and comfortable for walking, she couldn’t use the runner. If she didn’t move quickly, if she lost focus for even a moment, it would be over.

Laila stood still in the shade, looking for a place to move. She needed to move as far as possible with minimal movement.

‘Like crossing stepping stones.’

The moment her feet touched the ground, the shadow would grow longer. Laila decided to move first towards the dense bushes on the right.

After confirming that Eustar’s body was completely buried in the shade, she gathered her dress and leaped with all her might towards the shadow of the bushes.

—Hiss—!

The moment her shadow was exposed, a demon beast with long stretched arms lunged like an arrow.

But Laila was faster in ducking her head into the bushes to hide her shadow. The demon beast that missed her by a hair’s breadth roared as if screaming.

‘I need to get far away from Eustar.’

Laila scanned her surroundings and then hid herself in the shadows of plants, changing directions using the same method.

At the last moment, she almost got caught by the demon beast as her foot slipped, but Laila rotated her body using her slipped heel as an axis.

“Ugh…!”

Her head hit a hard tree, making her dizzy. The shadow demon beast that had risen up was shaking its neck with its claws extended. It seemed agitated, half-exposing its body without hiding in the shadows.

—Hiss… Shh…!

Something like vine shadows writhed and shot up from the demon beast’s round head.

The shadows that slithered across the floor came right up to the edge of the tree shadow where Laila was hiding, making squeaking noises at the boundary.

Laila’s eyes widened as she saw these mere shadows scratching the solid marble floor.

She looked up at the ceiling. It felt as if the sun had suddenly tilted westward. To make matters worse, clouds were gathering. The darker it got inside the conservatory, the stronger the demon beast was becoming.

Moreover, was it just her imagination? Laila thought the demon beast seemed to have grown even larger. She mentally recited a simple incantation and then traced her finger along the boundary of the shadow she was hiding in.

A faint beam of light rose along the invisible line, and the threatening, snake-like writhing shadow tips retreated.

There was another hissing sound, like steam escaping. This time it was much closer. Laila flinched, thinking it was right behind her shoulder, but then tensed her knees.

“Stay calm.”

The hissing sound continued to circle around her. Eustar’s words about this demon beast being cunning were not a lie.

It seemed to be trying to provoke fear by threatening like this, then planning to pounce when the prey moved to flee elsewhere.

“Stay calm.”

Laila muttered to herself as if self-hypnotizing, then closed her eyes. She took a deep breath to forget the chilling sound lingering in her ears. Her heart was still pounding, but her dizzy vision cleared.

Anyway. Laila thought. Neither Eustar nor she had proper weapons anyway.

All they had was Eustar’s one sword, which could momentarily block the demon beast’s attacks but couldn’t stop the flow of time.

This cunning creature wouldn’t charge head-on, so even having a sword was useless.

‘If we drag this out until nightfall, it’s over. We have to do it before then.’

Laila alternately rubbed her ice-cold fingertips, but they wouldn’t warm up no matter what. Her fingers felt numb and cool as if blood wasn’t flowing, yet her palms kept sweating.

Are you really going to do it?

The voice inside her whispered. It clearly found this situation quite amusing. Laila tried to forcibly suppress it and closed her eyes.

‘I have to.’

Though it felt like a rock was weighing on her shoulders, Laila took out the shrunken slate pencil from the silk pouch.

It had worn down more than expected, perhaps because she had pressed too hard when drawing the formation earlier. If she couldn’t draw the formation in one go, or if she failed even after drawing it, it would be over.

Holding the slate pencil, she crouched down deeper into the shadow as if hiding herself.

The vine-like shadows that had been lurking around the boundary marked by the light beams moved as if to stretch towards Laila again, but then seemed to sense something and slowly retreated.

‘Yes, you should be scared. You must have sensed what I’m about to do.’

Laila moved the slate pencil fragment to draw a formation on the ground. It was a bizarre formation that neither Eustar nor probably anyone in Tentinella had ever seen before.

Unlike typical magic circles based on circular shapes, this was based on a hexagon and the pattern was much more complex.

The sound of the slate pencil striking the floor grew louder and louder. The demon beast’s panting grew louder as well, but Laila focused solely on drawing the formation as if she couldn’t hear the sound.

After writing tiny characters across the center of the pattern with her left hand, the worn-out slate pencil crumbled to powder between her fingers.

Laila stood up, catching her breath. She could feel the air had become heavy enough. The warmth and humidity that had felt cozy and pleasant when she first entered now choked her.

—Remember, Laila. If you ever make a contract with a demon…

Trying to erase her mother’s voice from her mind, Laila snapped off the sharpest and sturdiest-looking thorn from a plant stem.

The triangular protrusion looked vicious like a monster’s tooth on her white palm.

Laila closed her eyes and gripped the thorn tightly. A stinging sensation was felt, followed by a sharp pain that shot up to her wrist.

Red drops of blood fell heavily onto the formation. Thud, thud… Like viewing a field of blooming roses from far away, the ground at Laila’s feet was dotted with red.

“One who dwells in the deep, one who lives where human hands cannot reach.”

As Laila chanted the spell, a sudden gust of wind could be felt stirring inside the locked conservatory.

Now she was continuing the incantation in words she couldn’t understand. It was a language forgotten among humans.

A language created by the ancestors of those who wielded magic, that is, magicians. A language passed down from demons to witches. In the Dark Ages, even uttering this language was considered a grave sin.

Even young children who hummed ancient songs without knowing the meaning were no exception. They were tied up in nets weighted with stones and thrown into lakes, or wrapped in oil-soaked linen and thrown into fires.

Laila’s eyes opened silently. A pair of brightly glowing red eyes reflected the black smoke rising. The incantation was over. There was no turning back now, and she had to summon someone.

“Badin.”

As soon as the words left her lips, the entire conservatory shook around the formation. It was a tremor as if an earthquake had struck, but Laila held firm.

Focusing only on making sure Eustar was alright, she planted her feet firmly. The smoke that had initially risen like thin threads gradually thickened. There was a fluttering sound like birds taking flight after hearing gunfire.

Badin, dressed in sleek black from head to toe, appeared before Laila’s eyes.

With his appearance, a gale-like wind swept through the conservatory. The glass rattled, the trees screamed, and the demon beast’s howl was ear-splitting.

—Shh! Hiss—!

The demon beast could be seen thrashing about, following the shadows of the swaying trees.

It must be desperately trying to hide. Laila pulled out the thorn from her throbbing palm and threw it far away. She could feel the warm trickle of blood flowing down her fingers.

Amidst all the commotion, Badin stood like a statue with an indifferent and displeased expression.

Laila clenched her bleeding palm tightly as she stared straight at Badin. A pair of red eyes identical to her own seemed to flash brightly.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

Badin said. Amusingly, his voice sounded like he was scolding a daughter who had done something foolish.

It was a voice mixed with both sighs and irritation, but without conveying great anger. There was no mockery or contempt for a weak human daring to summon a demon.

Laila clenched her palm even tighter. The throbbing pain intensified, but it felt like that was the only way to maintain her sanity. If necessary, she could even dig into the wound with her own hands.

Laila replied in a defiant voice.

“You’re not asking because you don’t know, are you?”

Badin sighed once more—furrowing his brow in a way that exuded a sensuality straight out of a novel—and stared intently at Laila. His beautiful but irritable features seemed to have paled slightly.

Even knowing he wasn’t human, Laila momentarily mistook him for someone suffering from an illness.

“Are you saying you know what you’ve just done?”

Laila remained silent for a moment before answering in a firm voice.

“I do.”

She paused before adding.

“I summoned you to make a contract.”

Badin let out a scoff. Even that was so human-like that Laila kept feeling strange.

A deep furrow appeared between his brows and quickly disappeared. As the two faced each other in silence, the wind died down and the clouds cleared.

Just as the demon beast started hissing again like an agitated snake, Badin casually waved his hand as if shooing away a pesky insect.

—Boom…!

A thunderous sound filled the vast conservatory. A large tree that had been firmly rooted was uprooted and flung into the air, torn to shreds.

And in Badin’s hand was the problematic shadow demon beast. He had it gripped by what would be its neck on a human, and the creature was twisting its entire body, stretching and shrinking its limbs within his grasp.

—Hiss! Shh… Squeak…

Badin looked at the demon beast in his grip with emotionless eyes. That indifferent gaze sent chills even through Laila.

As the struggling demon beast suddenly came closer, Laila flinched and stepped back.

Badin said:

“I suppose you want this thing eliminated?”